Facial nerve to facial canal cross-sectional area ratio in children.

The incidence of facial palsy among children is lower than that among adults, and the recovery rate after facial palsy among children is higher than that of adults. To investigate these differences, we compared the cross-sectional area ratio of the facial nerve to that of the facial canal in 26 pediatric temporal bone specimens with that of 10 adult temporal bone specimens. The ratios were 0.31 +/- 0.08, 0.35 +/- 0.10, and 0.18 +/- 0.12, respectively, in the labyrinthine, horizontal, and mastoid segments of pediatric specimens. The ratios for adult specimens were 0.46 +/- 0.07, 0.52 +/- 0.17, and 0.37 +/- 0.04, respectively, in the labyrinthine, horizontal, and mastoid segments. These ratios were all significantly smaller than those for the corresponding segments of the adult specimens (P < .01). The results indicate that in children there is less possibility for entrapment of the facial nerve in the facial canal, and that children require facial nerve decompression less often than adults.